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Constitution

About: Constitution is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 37828 publications have been published within this topic receiving 435603 citations.


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Book
01 Jan 1991
TL;DR: The Fate of Liberty as mentioned in this paper provides a comprehensive look at the issues of civil liberties during Abraham Lincoln's administration, placing them firmly in the political context of the time, and provides a vivid picture of the crises and chaos of a nation at war with itself.
Abstract: If Abraham Lincoln was known as the Great Emancipator, he was also the only president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Indeed, Lincoln's record on the Constitution and individual rights has fueled a century of debate, from charges that Democrats were singled out for harrassment to Gore Vidal's depiction of Lincoln as an "absolute dictator." Now, in The Fate of Liberty, one of America's leading authorities on Lincoln wades straight into this controversy, showing just who was jailed and why, even as he explores the whole range of Lincoln's constitutional policies. Mark Neely depicts Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus as a well-intentioned attempt to deal with a floodtide of unforeseen events: the threat to Washington as Maryland flirted with secession, distintegrating public order in the border states, corruption among military contractors, the occupation of hostile Confederate territory, contraband trade with the South, and the outcry against the first draft in U.S. history. Drawing upon letters from prisoners, records of military courts and federal prisons, memoirs, and federal archives, he paints a vivid picture of how Lincoln responded to these problems, how his policies were actually executed, and the virulent political debates that followed. Lincoln emerges from this account with this legendary statesmanship intact--mindful of political realities and prone to temper the sentences of military courts, concerned not with persecuting his opponents but with prosecuting the war efficiently. In addition, Neely explores the abuses of power under the regime of martial law: the routine torture of suspected deserters, widespread antisemitism among Union generals and officials, the common practice of seizing civilian hostages. He finds that though the system of military justice was flawed, it suffered less from merciless zeal, or political partisanship, than from inefficiency and the friction and complexities of modern war. Drawing on a deep understanding of this unique period, Neely takes a comprehensive look at the issues of civil liberties during Lincoln's administration, placing them firmly in the political context of the time. Written with keen insight and an intimate grasp of the original sources, The Fate of Liberty offers a vivid picture of the crises and chaos of a nation at war with itself, changing our understanding of this president and his most controversial policies.

106 citations

01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: The constitutional protection of multiculturalism jointly organised by the National Human Rights Trust and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in 1998 was discussed in this article, where the authors presented an extended version of a paper delivered on 9 May 1998 at a conference.
Abstract: *This is an extended version of a paper delivered on 9 May 1998 at a conference on The constitutional protection of multiculturalism jointly organised by the National Human Rights Trust and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Pretoria.

106 citations

Book
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: Rohr as mentioned in this paper argues that ethical practice demands an immersion in the specifics of our constitutional tradition, and he offers a guide to attaining a greater sense of those constitutional principles that can be translated into action.
Abstract: For civil servants who take an oath to uphold the Constitution, that document is the supreme symbol of political morality. Constitutional issues are addressed by civil servants every day, whenever a policeman arrests a suspect or members of different branches of government meet. But how well do these individuals really understand the Constitution's application in their jobs? This book encourages civil servants to reflect on specific constitutional principles and events and learn to apply them to the decisions they make. Twenty seminal articles by a preeminent scholar seek to legitimate public service by grounding its ethics in constitutional practice. John Rohr stresses that ethical practice demands an immersion in the specifics of our constitutional tradition, and he offers a guide to attaining a greater sense of those constitutional principles that can be translated into action. Along the way he considers such timely issues as financial disclosure, the treatment of civil servants as second-class citizens, and instances of civil servants caught between executive and legislative forces. Rohr's opening essays demonstrate that responsible use of administrative discretion is the key issue for career civil servants. Subsequent sections examine approaches to training civil servants using constitutional principles; character formation resulting from study of the constitutional tradition; and the ethical choices that are sometimes posed by separation of powers. A final group of chapters shows how a study of other countries' constitutional traditions can deepen an understanding of our own, while a closing essay looks at past issues and future prospects in administrative ethics from the perspective of Rohr's long involvement in the field. Throughout this insightful collection, Rohr seeks to remind public servants of the nobility of their calling, reinforce their role in articulating public interests against the excesses of private concerns, and encourage managers to make greater use of constitutional language to describe their everyday activities. Although his work focuses on the federal career civil servant, it also offers valuable lessons applicable to state and local civil servants, elected officials, judges, military personnel, and those employed in the nonprofit sector.

105 citations

Book
01 Dec 1999
TL;DR: A new reserch programme emerges - constitutional economics two competing approaches to constitutional economics - a comparison of Buchanan and Hayek the possibility of positive constitutional economics positive constitutional economic - a survey breaking with the notion of social contract - constitutions as based on spontaneously arisen institutions bargaining for constitutional change as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A new reserch programme emerges - constitutional economics two competing approaches to constitutional economics - a comparison of Buchanan and Hayek the possibility of positive constitutional economics positive constitutional economics - a survey breaking with the notion of social contract - constitutions as based on spontaneously arisen institutions bargaining for constitutional change - towards an economic theory of constitutional change implicit constitutional change - changing the meaning of the constitution without changing the text of the document constitutional competition - foreign factors causing constitional change? outlook - connecting positive constitutional economics with the theory of economic policy.

105 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
20241
20232,090
20224,774
2021860
20201,213
20191,262